A traditional ice-resurfacing machine is constructed on a vehicle chassis and operated by a user. The ice-resurfacing vehicle typically has a large storage area for collected ice shavings and includes an ice-resurfacing unit dragged behind the vehicle and around the ice needing to be resurfaced. This resurfacing unit includes a blade, augers, and watering unit. In use, the ice-resurfacing vehicle is driven onto the rink, the ice-resurfacing unit is lowered and the vehicle is driven along areas of ice needing to be resurfaced. In operation, as the vehicle is driven, the ice resurfacing unit blade shaves the ice surface with the augers collecting the shaved ice and depositing it within the storage area while the watering unit applies fresh water to the shaved ice.
A standard ice resurfacing vehicle is quite large, often the size of a large automobile, making it cumbersome to maneuver and operate. A majority of the size of the ice-resurfacing vehicle is comprised of the storage area. This storage area typically occupies the front of the vehicle and functions a depository for removed shaved ice. After the completion of resurfacing, this shaved ice must be emptied from the storage area and then melted or deposited outside for complete disposal.
In addition to being difficult to operate, traditional ice resurfacers are slow. A typical ice resurfacing is completed in approximately 7-10 minutes. Using two resurfacers at a time can lesson the time to resurface the ice, but still takes approximately 4-6 minutes. As ice time is a valuable commodity in terms of both practice time and money, ice-resurfacing time needs to be minimized.
Due to these limitations, an ice-resurfacing unit is desired that can quickly resurface the ice, does not require an operator, and does not require the storage of shaved ice. Preferably, this ice-resurfacing unit is used in combination with several other similar units to quickly enter an ice surface and resurface the ice in a very short period to quickly and efficiently restore the ice surface.